Written by: Mala Pachla

There are certain people in this world who dream about moving to the countryside, away from the city, the hustle and bustle. Many of them will never do it for various reasons and the dream will simply remain a dream forever. Others will take the plunge, they will live in the country for some time and then they will realize that it’s not for them because the reality of country life is not what they dreamed about and they will return to their old life. Then there are those who will fulfill their dreams and become country folk for better or worse, they will put down roots in their newly adopted homeland, and will live there for the rest of their lives. If fate spares us from some unforeseen occurrences, I dare say that we belong to the latter group. However, it was not easy, there were some incidents on the way and today I would like to tell you all about them.

These incidents mostly stemmed from our ideas about what the perfect place to live should be. We wanted to move to a total wilderness, away from people, at the end of the world, somewhere where the roads are rough, where the nearest neighbor is stationed a few kilometers away… and so on and so forth. We even started looking for such places, but we couldn’t find any for sale and those that were available required fundamental investments which would consume our whole budget.

In general, when searching for a perfect place to live, you have to leave a large reserve for compromises and become flexible with your own ideas. It’s not easy and a lot depends on the character and personalities of those who search, that's why we could direct you to certain people who have been looking for a perfect place to live for seven years and still have not found it. Well, like they say, the journey is more important than the goal, although in this case I have to disagree.

Anyway, our plans have changed many times. The reasons were different each time. Those who know us well can tell you how far we ended up from the original vision way back when. We have stopped setting new deadlines and we are trying to live here and now and just accept and trust our fate. by trusting your fate and intuition you will be able to achieve what is best for you.

However, one thing is certain and clear - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF LIVING IN A NEW PLACE ARE THE NEIGHBORS. And it doesn’t matter if their property borders with yours or if they live several kilometers away. A good neighbor is a treasure, whereas a bad neighbor is a source of negative energy and should be avoided at all cost. The same principle applies everywhere, even in a block of flats. Today we know that the living arrangement itself and the view from the window are not as important as a nice and friendly neighbor. You can turn a blind eye on many things, but not on the neighborhood.

A good neighbor will help you in the moment of doubt, with a good neighbor it is nice to have a coffee when the weather is cold and grey, a good neighbor will present you with a sack of potatoes, with a good neighbor turns watching the World Cup into a wonderful experience, especially when you don’t have a TV set of your own. It bears repeating: a good neighbor is a treasure and keep telling that to everyone who plans to move anywhere.

Of course, neighbors can be a roulette. You never know who you will end up with or who that person really is. There are, however, ways (especially in the countryside) to find that out beforehand, so you are able to make a decision only after gathering all the significant information. The rest depends on building good relations with your new neighbors.

We are lucky to live close to people who are kind, cordial and wise. You might say that we are almost like family. We changed our plans and kept looking for new places mainly because energy flowing from the nearest neighborhoods was not the one we hoped for. If something was suspicious we simply listened to our intuitions and withdrew in a timely (sometimes not so much) fashion. Although the places we abandoned had greater views, although these changes have slowed us a lot, we have no regrets. Our perfect place is right here, and as they say: “if you have a good neighbor, you will have a good morning“… so I wish you good mornings, whether you reside in the city or far from it.